P s 

?>537 
.H475 

30 




>|*Jarion (©outhouy^mith 




raw. psas'3? 



Copyright^ . 






COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



THE 
ROAD 
OF 
LIFE 



3ffi> Scab of Safe 



By 

MARION COUTHOUY SMITH 

ii 

Author of 

"The Electric Spirit and Other Poems," etc. 



1909 

THE ALICE HARRIMAN COMPANY 

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 



Copyright 1909 
Marion Couthouy Smith 






CI.A251 75 



PRINTERS 

LOWMAN & HANFORD CO 

SEATTLE 



a) 

CI 



Ihe Century, McClure's, Munsey's, Harper's Bazaar 
and Youth's Companion courteously permit use of poems 
originally published by them. 



(UttntmtB 



Cried in the Market Place . . . Introduction 

Page. 

The Road of Life 11 

The Charm Invincible 17 

Rhymes of an Old Home 18 

Our Hope 20 

Old Melodies 21 

The Fire-Fly 23 

Without End 24 

The Conquering Thrust 25 

In Old Haunts 26 

The Quest of Liberty 27 

A Prayer 31 

The Code of the Strong 32 

The Wires 33 

Straight to the Sun 35 

Song of the Souls that Failed . . . .36 

The Rulers 37 

Susan B. Anthony .38 

The City Ideal ' . 39 

The Bright Eyes of Danger 40 

The Fire Engines 42 

The Wireless Message 43 

Are We So Old? 44 

The Call Supreme 46 

A Vision of Flight 47 

The Leaves 49 

Telephone Song 50 

The Song of the Easter Lilies . . . .51 



T3 



(Emh in % Matktt plan? 



Songs, songs, 
Who'll hear my songs? 
Songs in the forest made, 
To the voluble soft music 
Of the rustling glade. 

HEY are woven of wind-voices, 
And the grave speech of trees, 

And bird-notes, rhyming, chiming, 
Through long, slow harmonies. 

They were born in little bowers 

Of deep enfolding green, 
Where shadows lie forever, 

And sun-rays creep between. 

They were cradled to the swaying 

Of fern and underbrush, 
Where stirrings swift, and glidings, 

Break faintly through the hush. 

They are bright with dews of morning, 
And cold with twilight rain, 

Impassioned with the years that die, 
And Springs that come again. 

Songs, songs, 
Who'll hear my songs? 
Who'll heed their tender wiles? 
Bartered for a friendly word, 
For passing tears and smiles. 



SIljp Soaii of iGtfr 



Scene. — A hillside road in Summer. 

Persons. — A mother and daughter, walking slowly. 

DAUGHTER: 
How calm, how glad, how wonderfully fair! 
The leaves are moving like a quiet heart, 
With joy too deep for passion. Yet, behold! 
There wakes a sudden, swift, scent-laden wind, 
And now they rock and glitter in the sun, 
And quiver in a ripple of ecstasy. 
The world is full of life, yet how serene! 
My mother, you are sure our way is here? 
This is the Road of Life? 

MOTHER: 
Yes, I am sure. 

DAUGHTER: 
Yet there are dangers in the way, I know, — 
Sorrow, and pain and conflict. So they say. 

MOTHER (hesitating): 
Perhaps — they will not come. 

DAUGHTER (lightly): 

Oh, they must come; 
They come to all, we know. I do not fear, 
For I am guarded on all sides by Love, 
And Love is strong! 

MOTHER: 
To guard? Love strong to guard? 

DAUGHTER: 
Why, Love's the strongest guard! 

11 



5% Soaft nf ffitft 

— Continued 

MOTHER: 
Yes, Love is strong, (aside) 
So strong to suffer, but so weak to guard! 

DAUGHTER: 
Mother, you're weary; sit and rest awhile. 
I will go forward; I would look ahead. 

MOTHER: 
No, not ahead — look back! See how the hills 
Yet keep the rapture of the morning sun. 

DAUGHTER: 
But I have seen it earlier — fairer still. 
I go to see the road, beyond that bend, 
There, in the shadow of the musing wood. 

MOTHER: 
Go, then, and I will rest. (Daughter goes forrvard) 

I need not fear. 
She will see naught upon the sunny road 
But light, and waving shadows, and small flowers 
That smile amid the grass. It is too soon! 

(The mother rests. A long silence. The daugh- 
ter returns hastily, a startled look in her eves.) 

DAUGHTER: 
Mother! — oh, Mother! 

MOTHER (starting up): 
Daughter! What is this? 
DAUGHTER: 
Nothing — I think — to fear! But I have seen — 
(No, do not fear!) — a figure by the road, 
Seated, so still, between two jutting rocks, 
In the deep shadow of the breathing trees. 
She was so still ! She did not speak — and yet — 

12 



3fje Sloafc of ffiltft 

— Continued 
MOTHER: 
Child, did you see her eyes? 

DAUGHTER : 
I saw her eyes; 
And therefore, though she sat so still, I feared! 

MOTHER: 
Was she so terrible? 

DAUGHTER: 
Not terrible — 
And yet, she could be terrible! Such eyes! 
So sad, so stern — nay, so inexorable! 
Mother, you know her? — For I have a thought — 

MOTHER: 
I — cannot tell — 

DAUGHTER: 
I think — that she is Death! 
MOTHER: 
I cannot tell! Death is not always stern. 

DAUGHTER: 
I know she is not Sorrow, nor yet Pain, 
For I have seen them both. 

MOTHER (musingly): 
She is not Love, 
For Love looks sweetly in the eyes of Youth, 
Whatever change comes after. 

DAUGHTER: 
Do you know her? 
MOTHER: 
I cannot tell! I know the face of Death. 

DAUGHTER: 
And this, I'm sure, is Death. Oh, come and see! 

13 



5Uj? l&tmb of life 

— Continued 

MOTHER (in fear) : 
No, no, my child! It is not Death. 
DAUGHTER: 

It must be! 
What other could look so? I do not fear her! 
Come, come and see! 

MOTHER: 
Dear heart, it is not Death! 
(They advance along the road into the shadow of 
the wood, walking quickly, in silence. The daughter 
suddenly stops and points ahead, to the right. The 
Figure appears. They look at iU still silent.) 

DAUGHTER (whispering) : 
See, how she sits — her hands upon her knees, 
Motionless, motionless — yet so alert, 
As one who holds in leash a fateful power. 
Look at her eyes ! (A pause) 

Speak, Mother; do you know her? 



I know her! 



No! 



MOTHER: 

DAUGHTER: 
Tell me, tell me! Is it Death? 

MOTHER: 



DAUGHTER: 
Is it Sorrow ? Can she be so stern ? 

MOTHER: 
'Tis she who cradles Sorrow. 

DAUGHTER: 
That means Death! 

14 



3tje %tmb of life 

— Continued 
MOTHER: 
No, no, dear heart! God help us, — she is Life! 

DAUGHTER: 

Life! With such brows — such eyes! 

MOTHER: 

She looked in yours? 

DAUGHTER: 

Compellingly, — as she should say, "I wait!" 

MOTHER: 
Aye, she will wait! — Come back again and rest. 

( The)) turn) 
DAUGHTER: 
She has a charm about her! Now I see 
How dull I was, to say that she was Death. 
She is ferocious; yet she can be sweet. 
Oh, I must know her! Yet — I am afraid. 

MOTHER: 
I wish you had not seen her eyes, so soon. 

DAUGHTER : 
I had no choice. And I must go with her, 
Soon, very soon. She will not let me pass; 
She will rise up, and walk along with me. 
This is the Road of Life ; you know it, Mother ! 
And you — you, too — have looked into her eyes. 

MOTHER: 
Oh, long ago! Oh, very long ago! 

DAUGHTER: 
You know, then; tell me: Is there aught to fear? 

MOTHER: 
To fear! For you? Dear love, I — cannot — tell! 

15 



— Continued 

DAUGHTER: 

But tell me all you know. 

MOTHER: 
I do not know! 
'Tis not the same for all. 

DAUGHTER: 
You think, with me 
She may be gentle? 

MOTHER: 

Oh, she may! She — will! 
DAUGHTER: 
You are not sure she will? 

MOTHER: 
I am — not sure! 
DAUGHTER: 
But she is Life, not Death! I do not fear. 
This is the Road of Life, and it is sweet 
And very fair! 

MOTHER: 
Yes; very sweet and fair. 
DAUGHTER: 
Oh, I shall love her, after all, I am sure! 
She is so strong, so glorious! And her eyes — 
I see them in the dusk and in the light, 
And I shall see them always! Dearest Mother, 
Why do you fear? 

MOTHER: 
I? Nay, I do not fear. 
She will be gentle ; but I only wish 
You had not looked, so soon, into her eyes! 

16 



5ty? (Eljarm 3lmrinrthl* 



a 



PHOLD me on the danger-crest of life, 
O Mother City! Clasp me in thine arms; 
Enthral me with thy wild, compelling charms; 

Sting me with rapture, buffet me with strife. 

Lure and repel me; snatch my heart to thee; 

Fling me the challenge of thy restless eyes; 

Now, let me hate thee — then, with swift surprise, 
Love thee again, and nevermore be free! 

Through the pure quiet of the great, still nights, 

They life breaks out, — thy harsh reverberant songs, 
The pulsing cadence of thy tramping throngs; 

The opulent glitter of thy myriad lights. 

My heart is lifted on thy buoyant tides, 
Thrilled by thy cries of revelry and woe. 
The far hills call me, but I may not go; 

The woods invite me, — but thy spell abides. 

So let me know thy blessing and thy ban, 
And find my soul reflected in thy face. 
For all the secret of thy passionate grace 

Is but the magic of the heart of man. 



17 



Stjgmea of an (§lb ^mt 



THE PASSER-BY 

'N a cold, drifting rain, 
, On a dreary night, 
I went hurrying by a house 
With windows all alight; 
Hurrying to my shelter 
At a strange fireside, 
I passed by the old home, 
Where my mother died. 

There was my own room, 

Where I dwelt for years, 
Harbor of uncounted dreams, 

Of unreckoned tears; 
Ah, from its every corner 

Shall not ghosts arise, 
Moaning low to alien ears, 

Frighting alien eyes? 

In the rain, in the night, 

Sped I past the place, 
The lights of a stranger's home 

Shining in my face; 
With me walked the dead days, 

The woes forever gone, — 
And the old house seemed to sigh, 

As I hastened on. 

18 



— Continued 
II. 

THE NEW HOUSEHOLDER 

Who sits under my roof-tree? 

One whom I have not known ; 
He dug not the old foundations, 

He laid not a single stone ; 
Where a thousand echoes greet me, 

He hears no word nor breath, 
And the walls that to me are lettered, 

To him are as blank as death. 

Here I come as a stranger, 

Faring at his behest ; 
Here he rules as the master, 

Greeting a haunted guest; 
For, as I sit by his fireside, 

Faintly I see and hear 
The light of a by-gone presence, 

The call of an old-time cheer. 

Here I wept in the darkness, 

(Hark, how the old griefs cry!) 
Here she lay in her beauty, 

She who can never die. 
Aye, though he pay the purchase, 

I have the right divine! 
His is the shell — the shadow, — 

The soul of the house is mine. 



Wnv Ijnp? 



TK7 



HAT is our hope? Re-birth to some new strife? 
Dropping this dear and long-familiar life, 
As some rejected garment, worn and old, 
With all its loves, its joys, its griefs untold; 
Leaving forever memory's precious store 
As driftwood, on some vast and dreary shore; 
Re-entering earth, an alien from the dead, 
Bewildered still, with untried paths to tread? 
Were this our hope, with love and memory lost, 
What bliss remote could pay the bitter cost? 

This is our hope: To know some wider range 
Of conscious progress and exultant change; 
Yet to look back, with clear and tender gaze, 
On this blind life, — its rough and weary ways, 
Its struggles, and its dark besetting fears, 
Its ecstasy, its passion, and its tears; 
And oh! to fall again on some dear breast 
Once stilled in moveless calm, in icy rest; 
To feel its warmth ; to see, with glad surprise, 
The light rekindled in sweet, faithful e)'es; 
This is our hope, and worth our sternest strife, 
Our years of longing prayer, — for this is life! 



20 



n 



(§lb Mtlabxes 

ER thin white fingers wandered among the yellowing 

keys, 
Now with a weary slowness, now with the old-time 

ease; 
The tunes were quaint and tender, like ancient tales 

oft told, 
For they were songs of bygone years, and she was 

growing old. 

The children flocked about her; they loved to hear 
her play ; 

For all was new and sweet to them, and every song 
was gay. 

They were her heart's companions, for they could 
understand ; 

The dear old music spoke to them beneath her trem- 
bling hand. 

But we, no longer children, between her day and 
theirs, 

Had danced to other measures, and thrilled to newer 
airs; 

We heard with smiles indulgent, but we were slow to 
praise 

The simple tunes that brought to her the joy of dis- 
tant days. 

21 



— Continued 

They brought the scent of springtime, the tap of danc- 
ing feet, 

The dream that blossomed in her heart when youth 
and love were sweet; 

Each cadence had its story, each plaintive, soft refrain 

Awoke the chimes of memory, the call of bliss or pain. 

So, with her thin white fingers, she touched the yellow- 
ing keys, 

And pleased the listening children with old-time mel- 
odies ; 

And we, who smiled to hear them, remember now 
with tears 

The tones that will not sound again through all the 
silent years. 



22 



aUje 3Ftr*-fljj 



B 



RIGHT on the summer dark, 
Fretting the silver night, 

Flashes thy trailing spark, 
Thou flower of light. 

Where the white day-stars sleep, 
Folded in fragrant sod, 

Gay vigil dost thou keep, 
Small torch of God. 

Infinite light, that wakes 
In the broad flame of day, 

Sparkles in thee, and breaks 
In starry spray. 

Jester of royal night, 

Sport of the festal moon, 

Thy glancing, elfish flight 
Passes with June. 

Brood that an hour destroys, 
Mocking the splendid sky, — 

Type of a thousand joys, 
Flicker and die! 



23 



Without lEnh 



n 



S in a vision I seemed to see 

That the earth was weary, and very old, 

And the tale of the ages well-nigh told; 
And hints of sinister prophecy 
Breathed of an end that soon should be. 
I saw the blight of a final change, 

When Spring came halting, sad and slow; 
When age was silent, and youth was strange, 

And the lights of hope burned low. 
Yet there, beneath cold twilight skies, 

On a pale space of rock and sand, 
Sat two alone, with shining eyes, 

And warm hand locked in hand ; 
And with brave cadence, clear and strong, 
Broke from the lover's lips a song: 

Dearest, the world is all made new for us, 

Dreams of the ages all come true for us, 
Nothing is left to fear! 

Never, in all the days before us, 

Sang the birds with so sweet a chorus, 
Never was Spring so dear. 

Love, all mine, while the years roll over us, 

Mine, when the snows of death shall cover us, 
Mine, while the soul shall be! 

Mine, though the last June yield her flowers; 

Dearest, through immemorial hours 
None have been loved like thee! 
So, as they sat, the immortal night 
Wrapped the old earth in still delight 
And in the blue deep, clear and far, 
Sparkled a new-born star. 
24 



w 



Slje Qlonqumng Stjruat 



HAT wound smote deepest to the mightiest Heart 

That ever knew earth's loving and earth's pain? 

The thrust of Judas, who for trivial gain 
Flung Heaven behind him, and bade hope depart? 
The surging crowd's mad rage? The aimless dart 

Of swift, unthinking mockery, light and vain? 

All these, in sooth, might that great Heart disdain, 
While Love, though mute and helpless, bore its part. 
But when Love shrank and failed, and three times 
played 

The dastard, was not this the sorest blow? 
Oh, not the sordid spirit that betrayed, 

Not the stern captor, nor the taunting foe, 
But he who flinched — the friend who was afraid — 

Wrung from those kingly eyes the appeal of woe ! 



25 



3ftt ©lb i^arotiH 



n 



ERE, in old haunts, your dear remembered graces, 
Like summer blooms returning, come to view; 

My heart builds shrines along the wayside places 
Where I have been with you. 



26 



(foreword) 

She stands on guard above the wave, 

Immortal Liberty! 
Her home and kingdom, or her grave, 

This mighty land must be. 

The nation lies, serenely great, 
Before her steadfast gaze, — 

The stronghold of her royal state, 
Hope of her future days. 

No Delphic lips her fate foretell, 
Nor hint of what shall be; 

A People's soul must weave the spell 
Of that high destiny. 



(LIBERTY speaks) 

'N the day of the first creation 

I woke in the breast of man 
The dream of an unborn nation, 

The wraith of a formless plan. 
Unknown, and not yet desired, 

I dawned like a flickering star, 
Till the soul of the race aspired 

To the vision faint and far. 

27 



— Continued 

Through the dusk of long, slow ages, 

I waxed both fair and strong, 
And the great, sad hearts of the sages 

Throbbed to my fitful song; 
In dreams of the shackled toilers 

My siren form shone forth; 
And I rode in the ranks of the spoilers, 

The white, fierce hordes of the North. 

Where untamed lips have named me, 

Their cry was of frenzied ire; 
Their hot, mad deeds have shamed me, 

And marked me with blood and fire. 
And when strong souls pursued me, 

When noblest works were wrought, 
I have broken the hearts that wooed me, 

I have mocked the hopes that sought. 

I am followed in pain and error, 

Worshipped with sighs and tears, 
In the madness of crime and error, 

The anguish of wasted years; 
As the sea-god's singing daughters, 

I have lured men's souls to death, 
While, sunk as in swirling waters, 

They praised me with failing breath. 

They have pictured in haunted vision 

My stern, yet radiant face; 
They have moulded in shapes Elysian 

The lines of my splendid grace; 

28 



®lje (§ntzl of ffiitarig 

— Continued 

And now, in the golden morning 

Of a strong, prophetic age, 
I have dropped my mask of scorning, 

I have smiled on my heritage. 

They have seen at last, they have known me, 

No longer veiled and far; 
The opening mists have shown me 

Fair as a deathless star! 
For I come to the free-born races 

Not by their pride and strife, 
But drawn by their tenderer graces, 

By love, and the selfless life. 

They shall seize my fleeting beauty, 

They shall crown my royal youth; 
But the leash on my wrist is Duty, 

The light on my brow is Truth. 
Though the path I tread be hidden, 

Though my rule no force may win, — 
I shall come to the throne unbidden 

When Love shall lead me in! 



(the nation speaks) 

Spirit of Freedom! have we heard thy voice? 
We who were vowed to thee in toil and strife, — 
Have we not won the secret of thy life? 

Are we not still the people of thy choice? 

29 



Sty* (Jjhmrt of Ktfortij 

— Continued 

Have we not followed thee through fire and blood? 

Ev'n to the verge of failure and of shame? 

Faced wound and capture — perished in thy name — 
Spared in thy service neither gold nor blood? 

Lo, we have loosed the red chain of the slave, 

Scorned crown and kingship, stood to rank and 

power ; 
Dreamed of thee, loved thee, ev'n in that dark hour 

When men have shamed the freedom that we gave. 

If we have kept the letter of thy word, 

Yet missed the spirit, then our hearts shall know 
Thy stern rebuke. But shall we lose thee so? 

Nay! though to bitter ruth our souls be stirred. 

Hope of the ages ! Guerdon of man's life ! 

Thy voice must reach us, through all warring 
sounds ; 

On all our pride and glory fix thy bounds, 
And by thy calm restraint control our strife. 

Let not our myriads worship thee in vain; 
But let us know thee, in our chastened hearts, 
Consort of Law, and mother of great Arts, 

But subject still to Love's immortal reign. 

We are thine own; and never are we blest — 

We, to whose hope the gracious dream was given — 
Till all be won for which our souls have striven, 

And in thy perfect sovereignty we rest. 

30 



A Pragrr 



F 



ATHER of all who live, 

Lord of our destiny, 
Choose from the ranks of the brave, I pray, 

The friend Thou giv'st to me! 

From those who have striven with Thee, 
And have met Thee face to face, 

In the might of Thine awful Fatherhood, 
Thy stern, unsparing grace. 

From those who have fought and won, 

And lightly worn the crown, 
Counting praise as a boon unsought, 

Scorning the deed's renown. 

From those who have fought and lost, 
And have wrested joy and power 

From the very hands of the conquering foe, 
In the bitter, breathless hour. 

From those who, in lonely days, 

In darkness and defeat, 
Have stood to fate with a dauntless will, 

In the strong soul's last retreat. 

Giver of gracious gifts, 

Lord of the life to be! 
Choose, I pray, from the ranks of the brave, 

The friend Thou giv'st to me. 

31 



®lj? date of tlj? Strong 



D 



O thy work without earthly hope, 

Do thy work without dream of cheer; 

Both shall find thee, in life's great scope, 
So thou harbor not hate nor fear. 

Look in the face of death each day; 

Only so shalt thou master life; 
When he beckons thee, go thy way 

Out of the toil and dust and strife; - 

Go alone, as thou needs must go, 

On, where the unknown pathway lies; 

Only God and thy soul shall know 
Where the star of thy life shall rise. 

Keep thy heart without hate or fear, 

Shrink not, pause not, for pain or strife, 

Strive not, scheme not, for love or cheer; 
Only so shalt thou capture life. 



32 



AX7 



E are the nerves of the world, 
The threads of fate are we, 
Whether in coil and spiral curled, 

Or flung over land and sea; 
From hoards of the ages brought, 

The great rocks yield our life; 
With flame and force is our being wrought, 

With throes of toil and strife. 

Over the whole round globe 

Our mighty web is spun, 
Woven out, as a gleaming robe, 

In shimmer of snow and sun; 
Drawn from the clods of earth 

By a mounting, hot desire, 
We come, to circle its utmost girth 

With meshes of prisoned fire. 

We span the bounds of space 

With burning, outstretched hands; 
The speech and soul of a wakening race 

Ride on our vivid strands; 
We start the viewless waves, 

Bearing their hidden song, 
And toss them down through our slender staves 

To the heart of a waiting throng. 

33 



(Silt WxrtB 

— Continued 

We lift the torch of light; 

We drive the wheels of power; 
Our careless force, through the day and night, 

Smites down the opposing hour ; 
We make the shining way 

On which man's word may fare; 
He gives his hope to our vibrant sway, 

His dream to our paths of air. 

We are the harp of the world, 

The chords of life are we; 
Through us the song of the sphere is hurled 

In a storm of harmony ; 
Forged in the sullen deeps, 

Strung through the void above, 
We ring with a note that never sleeps, — 

The note of a world-wide love. 



34 



^tratgljt to ttj? §mt 



& 



PEED you straight to the sun, 
Wings of my deepest desire; 
What though you perish in fire, 

So you have striven and won. 



What though you be afraid, 

Heart of my deepest desire, 

So only you still aspire, 
So only you have not stayed! 

What if you reach no goal? 
But, 'mid the stars in flight, 
You drop as a moth from the light, 

And fall, like a banished soul? 

You shall be marked of One, 

Heart of my deepest desire; 

Failing, perishing, scorched by the fire, 
Speed you straight to the sun. 



35 



§>0ttg uf % Mortis (FIjat IRniteb 



TS7 



E come from the wind-swept valleys, 

Where the strong ranks clash in might; 
Where the broken rear-guard rallies 

For its last and losing fight; 
From the roaring streets and highways, 

Where the mad crowds move abreast, 
We come to the wooded by-ways 

To cover our grief, and rest. 

Not ours the ban of the coward, 

Not ours is the idler's shame; 
If we sink at last, o'erpowered, 

Will ye whelm us with scorn or blame? 
We have seen the goal, and have striven, 

As they strive who win or die; 
We were burdened and harshly driven, 

And the swift feet passed us by. 

When we hear the plaudits' thunder, 

And thrill to the victors' shout, 
We envy them not, nor wonder 

At the fate that cast us out; 
For we hear one music only, 

The sweet, far voice that calls 
To the dauntless soul, and lonely, 

Who fights to the end, and falls. 

We come — outworn and weary — 

The unnamed hosts of life; 
Long was our march, and dreary, 

Fruitless and long our strife; 
Out from the dust and the riot, 

From the lost, yet glorious quest, 
We come to the vales of quiet, 

To cover our grief, and rest. 
36 



®Ij? Sulera 



3 



TRENGTHEN, O Sovereign Lord, the souls that 
bear, 

Unmoved, the heavier burdens of the race; 

Who fix the fate of nations by the grace 
Of strong, irrevocable choice, and dare, 
So choosing, Thy supernal power to share; 
. Who stand erect and smiling in their place, 

And lift, with pure, proud hands, before Thy face 
Their solemn load of judgment and of care. 

Ah, not alone to kings and prophets Thou 
Didst grant of old the sterner gifts of fate. 

That wreath of thorn was set on Lincoln's brow, — 
On Washington's; nor is our age too late 

For the clear vision, the unswerving vow, 

The brave and sorrowing lordship of the great. 



37 



BvLBun 5L Anttfong 



6 



OD and thy great heart drove thee to the breach 

Where raged the unequal war, — that narrow space 
Where the deep ranks of Custom held their place. 

There thou and thy brave Few spake each to each 

In those high words that only strife can teach; 

And there was shown thy sweet commanding grace, 
The starlike glory of thy steadfast face, 

The martial music of thy dauntless speech. 

The soul of woman, rising at thy will, 

Sees through a dream the freedom she should know, 
A freedom greatly wooed, reluctant still, 

And moving near with footsteps grave and slow. 

Then, to thy rest, brave Soul! and triumph so; 
The awakened race thy purpose shall fulfill. 



38 



®Ijp (Ettg Mml 



o 



VER the white, shining river, out on its uttermost rim, 
Rises a marvelous city, jeweled with fugitive 
gleams, 
Vested in silvery vapors, stately and silent and dim, 
City of shadowy towers, city of wonder and 
dreams. 

Darkness may dwell in the mazes under her spires and 
domes, 
Down in her inmost recesses evil may shrink from 
the light; 
Sorrow and struggle and toil may be rife in her mani- 
fold homes; 
Clamor and clangor and tumult may startle the day 
and the night. 

Yet in her beauty behold her ! Silent, gigantic, serene, 
Set like a vast musing goddess, shrined by the sky 
and the bay, 
Fair with a splendor prophetic, strong with a purpose 
unseen, — 
This is her image immortal, this is the soul of her 
clay. 



39 



Stye jBrtglft iEg^B of Sanger 



B 



RIGHT eyes that draw me on 

To the brink of flood or fire, 
Now flashing near — now gone; 

Spurring to keen desire- 
Goading to mad endeavor, 
Charm me, allure me, forever! 
Now as the eyes of a maid, 
Drooping, and half-afraid, 
Searching, as veiled eyes can, 
The very heart of a man; 
Vanishing, fading — and then, 
Drawing closer, closer again, 
With a sudden flaming grace, 
To stare me full in the face; 
Now, with a daring boast, 

Laughing all fear aside; 
Now as the eyes of a ghost, 

Haggard, and frozen wide, 
Fixed in horror and dread; 

Eyes, however ye gleam, . 

Ye are the lights of my dream, 

Wild as the marsh-fires, 
Flitting and dancing ahead! 

So let me follow, follow, 
Over all lands of the world; 

The deserts, barren and hollow, 
Where the waste rocks are hurled 

The swirling floods of the sea, 
The fields of storm and strife; 

40 



SUjp Urtgtji lEpa of iattg^r 

— Continued 

Wherever the soul rides free 

On a hazard of death or life; 
Wherever a man may go 
For chances of bliss or woe, 

Waiting the turn of the hour, 
Watchful, swift, debonair, 

Borne on the tides of power, 
Finding all fortunes fair; 

There let me roam or bide, 
To stress and toil no stranger; 

There let me follow my guide, 
The soul-lit eyes of danger — 

Let me woo, as a man may woo his bride, 
The great, wild heart of danger! 



41 



Stye 3fttr?-£ngtn?>g 



K 



ARK! As with clang! clang! clang! the iterant bell 
Strikes its imperial note, "Make way! Make 
way!" 

It holds the clamorous city with its spell 
Of instant dread; and dominates the day. 

Now through the startled street 

The rattling ladders swing, thunder the galloping feet ; 

And in one wave of force 

The bands of succor speed upon their course. 

A man sits there; the reins within his hold 
Are as the strands of fate ; his watchful gaze, 
Tense and unswerving, fronts the dizzying maze 

Of moving life before his speed unrolled; 

While his strong shoulders sway as if in scorn 

Of that relentless peril to which his life is sworn. 

The fight is on! Man's soul against the fire, 

In hot, exultant ire, 
Flame against flame — two giant powers at bay. 
Hark! how the distant clangor dies away! 

Hail to you, men, that hurtle to the strife! 

Whether in death or life, 

Ycu win the day! 



42 



5ty? Utol^aa MtBBU$? 



NTO the void we send it; 
Sprites of the air, attend it! 

Soul of the wind, give heed! 
Greet it from peak and hollow, 
Mad storms that cannot follow, 

Pierced by its mocking speed. 

The heart of man shall bless it, 
The waiting wires caress it, — 

Word that in silence sings; 
Borne where no pathway traces 
The great wind-peopled spaces, 

On viewless, vibrant wings. 



43 



At* Wt &a WW 



'The brain is an ember, 

The blood is cold; 
My heart, remember, 

We both are old!" 

— Edmund Gosse. 



5 



EART, are we both so old? 

Look in the glass and see! 
See how the wrinkles fold 

Where fresh smiles used to be : 
Is not the snow in the hair? 

The cloud in the eager eyes? 
Heart, shall we not beware 

Age, and its sad surprise ? 

Are we so old, my heart? 

Look to thyself, and see ; 
Sorrow would fain take part 

With years, to conquer thee. 
Strength is not thine to yearn 

Even for the hopes of yore; 
Heart, shall the Spring's return 

Move thee to joy no more? 

44 



Are We &a ©lb? 

— Continued 

So, we are old, my heart! 

Look on the world, and see. 
Nay, do thy pulses start? 

Slaves of the Spring are we? 
Under the budding boughs, 

See how young Love comes near; 
New and untried his vows; 

Heart, are not ours as dear? 

Heart, are we then so old? 

Look in Love's face, and see! 
Through all his lips withhold, 

His soul yet speaks to thee. 
Though beyond earth's recall 

His first sweet fancies are, 
Let the poor blossoms fall! 

Life is an ageless star. 



45 



oTIjf Gkll Bnpttmt 



\^ 1 ^ toil to the goal, strong-hearted, giving nor sight nor 
\A/ heed 

To Love, as he goes before us, flitting with careless 

speed ; 
Sudden he turns in the pathway, smiling — "How 

fares the day?" 
And naught is left for the striving — only to go his 



46 



A liatnn of SUtgljt 



TX7 



HERE the west wind holds dominion 
O'er the realm of the upper air, 

In a fold of his beating pinion, 
On his wide wild path we fare. 

With a cloud of your shining tresses 
He has veiled your eager sight, 

And, stung by his rude caresses, 
Your cheek burns red and bright. 

From the lair of the sleeping thunder, 
Through the trail of sunset dyes, 

When the gleaming sea crawls under, 
Eastward our swift car flies; 

With arrowy sweep it issues 

Forth to clear halls of air, 
Parting the purple tissues 

Of woven vapors fair; 

Till the blue lies wide around us, 
Sun-kissed and sapphire-bright, 

Where no set path has bound us, 
And the wind is with our flight. 

We are launched on a waveless ocean, 
Lulled on the wide air's breast, 

So straight, so swift, our motion, 
It seems a vibrant rest. 

47 



A Bteum of 3i\$\X 

— Continued 

See how the sun drops under! 

Only the waters glow; 
Earth is a world of wonder, 

Dreaming in dusk below. 

Now we float downward, slowly, 

Through warmer, mistier air, 
Wrapt in the influence holy 

That far, free spaces bear; 

This shall we lose, ah, never! 

Since through the skies we've passed, 
We are drawn to the light forever, 

We have breathed — we have lived — at last ! 



48 



N the smoky, sultry haze, 

In the mild mid-autumn weather, 
The leaves are gathering, circling, dancing, 

dropping down together. 

They fall with a subtle sound, 

With a dry, soft, fairy clamor, 
They flash like flakes of yellow light, in the 

veiled sun's dreamy glamour, 

They drop around our feet, 

They run, and whirl, and flutter; 

Everywhere is their ghostly flight, and the 
sighing song they utter. 

Their song is as old as Time, 

Old as the dream of dying; 
It bears the moan of death-struck Life, and 

the call of Hope replying. 

And the flame of their golden hue 

Is lit with the old-time fire 
That shines on the somber brows of Death, 

drawing the soul's desire. 

This is the fall, the sigh — 

Sad as the grave, yet tender, 
Telling of life that is whirled along 

in helpless, strange surrender. 

This is the flight, the song, — 

This is the autumn's story, — 
The frost and the flame, and the flickering hope, 

that points to an unknown glory. 

49 



Qfebpljatte &tm$ 



B 



Y the magic of the wire, 

By the force that mocks at space, 
I can reach you, my Desire, 

In your far place. 

I can draw you, at my choice, 
Close within my heart's control. 

Oh, at will to hear your voice — 
To feel your soul! 

Oh, to pluck your golden speech 
From the air, like drifting flowers! 

Oh, to know you within reach 
In silent hours! 

Ever, without dread of change, 
At a touch to draw you near! 

Was there ever spell so strange, 
Or boon so dear? 

This — the slave of men's affairs, 
Chained and prisoned mystery — 

Is the golden road of prayers 
For you — for me. 

As we call through leagues of air — 
We, whom space can never part — 

Though with guarded words and spare, 
I hear your heart! 



50 



MO 



®Ij0 jg>0ttg nf tlje faster ffitlt^H 

E are the lilies, who mutely and graciously bring 
Out of our sweet sheltered chambers, the message of 

Spring ; 
'Mid the meek blossoms of April set stately and tall, 
Queening it gently and musingly over them all; 
Tenderly nurtured, and garnered with love and with 

pride, 
Flowers of worship and mystery, clothed as a bride ; 
We are the festival lilies, immortally fair, 
Hear, then, the message we bring to the children of 

care. 
Have ye not known of our planting, bulbs shriveled 

and stark, 
Hidden away like the dead, in the dust and the dark, 
Lying in deepest oblivion, children of doom, 
Lost to the eyes that are eager for glory and bloom? 
Have ye not known of our rising, — the stems that 

unfold, 
Mounting, and budding, and opening in whiteness and 

gold? 
We, of all witnesses, we are the chosen, the blest, 
Rising most royally out of our patience and rest! 
Heed, then, the message of Easter, ye children of care, 
Told by the festival lilies, immortally fair. 
If ye have given your dearest to silence and sleep, 
If ye have buried your hopes, ah! so bitterly deep, 
Look to our glory, and see, with awakening eyes, 
How the lost beauty shall truly and gladly arise! 
See, all around you, the lovely reviving of earth, 
Flowing of sap and of water, new blooming and birth. 
We, on your altars, are symbols of power and life, 

51 



Stye ^nttg of tip £a*strr UttoB 

— Continued 

Springing exultantly, free from old sorrow and strife; 
Ponder us, then, as we give you the thrice-blessed 

theme : 
Man's resurrection is truer than longing and dream; 
He who hath bade you consider our growth and our 

bloom, 
First-fruit of Death, has arisen from slumber and 

gloom ; 
Ye with His life shall be quickened, — oh, listen and 

hear! 
Breathing in loveliness, bring we the song of the year! 
Bring we the song that is solemn and tender and wise, 
Message of Easter and Springtime: 

Your dead shall arise! 



52 



NOV 11 1909 



/COPY on ro cat my. 

NOV 26 1909 



